Walker Signs

What does signing tight end Delanie Walker to a three-year, $6 million deal with a $1.8 million signing bonus mean?

1). It means smart cap management by the 49ers. They continue to recognize up-and-coming players and lock them up to longer-term deals before their contracts expire. It keeps the player from the risk of free agency and typically means a lower cost to the team (depending on how the player performs). The players gets some security in a high-risk game and the knowledge that he isn’t likely to be uprooted any time soon.

2). With the money Walker will now earn, it’s a safe assumption that he’ll be a fairly big part of the offense. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz loves him because Walker has tight end size at 244 pounds but the moves and training of a wide receiver. Walker can turn a two tight-end formation into a three-receiver set by splitting out wide or lining up in the slot, which provides Martz with more options and some match-up headaches for a defense.

“It’s like trickery,” Walker said during the last week of last season. “Teams don’t know if we are going to run or pass it, because I line up in some many different positions. I feel like that’s a good opportunity for our offense.”

Walker started last season poorly, with some drops and a catch rate (percentage of passes completed compared to passes thrown to a particular receiver) well below 50 percent, which is nearly unheard of for a tight end. He came on towards the end of the year and finished with a 50 percent catch rate, tied for lowest in the league with Seattle’s Will Heller.

But Walker was only in his second season in a complicated offense after missing most of his rookie year with a shoulder separation, Walker also worked with revolving cast of largely ineffective quarterbacks. He also emerged from being a receiver at Central Missouri State, where his routes were prescribed, to a tight end in the NFL. Most routes for NFL tight end are adjusted based on the defense.

“We do motion, we do read routes, we do a lot of hot routes,” Walker said. “We have a lot on our plate. … In college I just lined up and got the number (of the play). This is a whole different deal.”

Walker said he now must know how deep the linebackers are dropping, if they’re slanting, and where the safety is so he can adjust.

Towards the end of last season, Walker said he started to play less tentatively when his blocking improved. He finished the year with 22 catches for 174 yards and a touchdown, but in the last seven games he caught 15 passes for 128 yards and his only score.

As a former sixth-round choice, Walker also came in with a workman-like attitude and was diligent in learning the offense, something his coaches and players have noticed.

3). It likely means more two tight-end sets with Walker and starter Vernon Davis. Last year, the 49ers used two tight ends 25 percent of the time, while Martz used two tight ends 16 percent of the time in Detroit. This year, the 49ers should push that percentage into the upper 30’s and maybe get to over 40 percent.